Never Again
by divineguidancebeta
Summary: A story of what i think should have happend with Zaku.
1. Chapter 1

Naruto is the property of Musashi Sushi Moto and TV Tokyo the following in a fan fiction and nothing more please support the official release.

Never Again.

Zaku stood there staring down at his useless arms, Shino stood behind him and said "earlier when I was distracting you with my helpful advice? I also sent a few of my little friends to plug up those bothersome wind holes, both hands just to be sure, you see well an ace in the hole is good two aces are better."

Zaku felt a small amount of movement in his left arm and with great deal of effort, and pain, he tried to swing at Shino with his right arm, but Shino hit him hard in the face with a back handed fist. Zaku landed on the ground some feet away from Shino.

Shino thought he had won but then he looked down to see a kunai buried in his stomach. "Ahhh." Zaku cried softly as he forced himself back to his feet.

Shino then smiled "you're a stubborn one but you didn't even hit a vital area. You see the liver has a way of working even with a hole in it and my bugs control the flow of pain to my brain so I almost didn't even notice you hit me."

Shino starts to walk towards Zaku, but then he stagers and falls to his knees. "what the?" Shino asks. "Ahhh," Shino grabs his stomach as his bug crawl out of his body and away from him. "What did you do to me?"

"Hehe" Zaku laughs smugly, "it seems we both had two aces the only deferens is I had a the second one up my sleeve, literally that kunai is the one I keep up my left sleeve and while we were out in the forest I took the liberty of coating it with the venom of every poisons creator we came across, than I put it into your liver because before blood goes to any part of the body it passes through the liver.

"but why does it hurt so much…" Shino thought to himself "and why are my bug running away?...No…." "You" Shino said out loud "you use scorpion venom didn't you?"

"scorpion, spider, snake like I said pretty much every venoms creator I found." Zaku answered Shino's question with a smirk on his face. "Why, do your bugs not like scorpions?".

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"Shino yelled as he clench his stomach.

"Oh by the way" Zaku spoke up "Full house aces over kings." Shino collapsed on the floor and just laid there.

Hayate Gekko walked up and said "well this one looks like" cough cough "he's had enough" Cough match Zaku .

"Fool" Zaku thought to himself "as if I'd let myself lose ever again."


	2. Chapter 2

Never Again

"Man is he ever gunna wake up?" Shikamaru said lazily after moving a shōgi piece "maybe the kid croaked."

"One can only hope" Zaku responded after moving his own peace, Zaku is wearing his usual clothes only the sleeves of his yellow jacket have been lengthened to cover his whole arm.

"I forgot why you are here again?" Shikamaru asked Zaku.

"Because we don't have anything better to do" Kin answered. Kin began to think back as Shikamaru and Zaku played their game.

**Flash back**

"Zaku's arms were almost destroyed in his battle against that young bug tamer." Orochimaru spoke calmly as if the subject didn't bother him. "The road to recovery is going to be hard and may not be worth the trouble"

"What are you saying?" Kin asked with a small amount of concern in her voice.

"I'm not sure Zaku has the will to recover from this" Orochimaru answered calmly and without emotion.

"What!?" Kin was confused and angered by what Orochimaru said "Zaku has a stronger will than anyone I've ever met! He never gives up, he never runs away, in fact I've never even seen him scared.

"I see" Orochimaru responded "Well then I shall do my best to assist his recovery."

**End Flash Back**

Kin's flash back was interrupted by Naruto waking up.

"So" Shikamaru said to Naruto "you decided to wake up huh"

"Where am I?" Naruto asked "what is this?

"The hospital" Shikamaru answered "they said you'd out cold like this for three days strait.

"three days" Naruto asked "THREE DAYS STRAIT!

"uh" Shikamaru was shock by how quickly Naruto went from zero to sixty. "yeah more or less"

"Shikamaru" Naruto began "when does the final test begin"

"Tomorrow" Zaku interrupted "now shut up I'm learning how to play shōgi"

"What! Are you crazy!?" Naruto yield "I've got to be getting ready and pervy sage were is pervy sage he's suppose to be supervising my training?!"

"Kin" Zaku asked rather kindly for him "could you?"

"Huh" at first kin didn't know what he meant, but soon she figured it out "oh right" Kin walked up to Naruto as he flailed around on the bed looking for his clothes, as if someone hid them from him, and jingled a bell near his ear.

Naruto fell back on the bed as if he were paralyzed. "thank you" Zaku said to kin.

"hay Naruto" Shikamaru asked "is something wrong"

"no" Naruto answered "I'm just really hungry"

"well then you should have woken up sooner when we were eating lunch in front of that fat kid." Zaku said.

"Oh" Kin spoke again "here I have some leftovers if you want them."

"Gee thanks" Naruto said as he took the food from kin. "Hay Shikamaru which room is Choji in?"

Shikamaru answered "why would you? Oh right, ha come on I'll show you" Shikamaru moves a piece on the board "game."

"son of a" Zaku slaps the board sending it flying.

Shikamaru got up "Hehe better luck next time"

Shikamaru and Naruto left the room "hehe" kin laughed.

"What's so funny" Zaku asked.

"nothing" kin replied.

"heh, you know Dosu said that kid reminded him of me." Zaku said with a grin on his face.

"Who? Shikamaru?" Kin asked.

"No" Zaku answered "The little blond one, it was while he was fighting the guy with his pet dog."

**Flash back**

"you know Zaku, the way that kid just refuses to lose, he kind of reminds me of you.

**End Flash back**

"I wasn't there for that" Kin answered.

"Yeah I know you were knocked out by Shikamaru" Zaku answered

"yeah" Kin replied

"any way" Zaku tries to change the subjected "I should probably get back to training for tomorrow."

"no" kin interrupted "the best thing you can do is rest" Kin seemed cold and composed as if she was speaking for someone ells. "you have a big day tomorrow, we can't have you sour."

"Ok mom" Zaku replied sarcastically.

"I'm serous" Kin said with concern in her voice "we need to be ready for anything"


	3. Chapter 3

Never Again

Zaku gets dressed in a white, long sleeved, collared shirt that has black sound notes in a random fashion on it. Zaku looked down at his head band with the hockey stick shaped guards that didn't seem to serve a purpose and slid it off of the dresser and into the trashcan near it.

Zaku opened up the top dresser drawer were a blue sound head band with scratches and dents all over it sat neatly folded over a blue long sleeve shirt. "Dosu" Zaku said out loud, Kin looked over a Zaku once he said this. "I won't act as if we were friends, but you where are team leader and I will even the score for you."

"Zaku" Kin said softly "good luck today."

"I'll be fine" Zaku said with a great deal of confidence in his voice "just be close at hand when we get the signal, I won't have time to go looking for you, ok."

"Right" Kin's voice returned to its calm and confident tone "I won't let you down."

"Good" Zaku said.

Zaku was calm and composed for the opening ceremonies only barley cracking a smirk after seeing Naruto go flying into the arena. Once the battle between Naruto and Neji began Zaku did would smile every time Naruto got back up and say "that's it" or "give him hell Naruto!".

Zaku enjoyed watching Naruto fight because it reminded him why he became a ninja to begin with. That drive to be better not for power or revenge, but to defy destiny itself to, be more than you were born to be, that was the gift the sound village gave him, and that is why he will do whatever it takes to defend his village and everything it represents.

Later once the battle was over and Naruto had finished his victory lap Zaku congratulated him, then the wait for Sasuke, they move onto the next round and Kankuro gives up without a fight. Temari and Shikamaru face off next.

Zaku doesn't say anything until Kankuro Sais "Temari heads up" once Temari looks up to see the parachute made from Shikamaru's jacket she jumps back to escape its shadow.

"you're not allowed to intervene!" Zaku slaps Kankuro on the back of the head as he says this. Kankuro gets angry and makes him swings back at Zaku, but Zaku easily dodged it.

"you little brat!" Kankuro yells as he reaches for Crow on his back, but then stops when he sees Zaku standing right in front of him with both palms facing him.

"go on" Zaku instigates Kankuro "who do you think is faster on the draw, me or a fat cross dresser ?"

"hey I'm not fat!" Kankuro said angrily. "and these are men's cloths.

"yes…." Zaku said with a smirk on his face "just like how that is men's purple eye liner and lipstick you're wereing"

Kankuro clenched his teeth before turning back towards the arena. "You're a real jerk you know that?"

"yeah" Zaku said as he lowered his hands "but what are you gunna do about it."

"hem" Kankuro grunted angrily at Zaku's over confidence and rudeness.

**Author's note**

** I'm sorry I grazed over the Naruto/Neji fight, but I didn't really see Zaku saying much during it so there wasn't any reason to waste time on it, after all I do have other things to do today.**


	4. Chapter 4

Never Again

"what the heck was that!" Naruto yelled after watching Shikamaru give up half way through the match "forfeiting the match when he had it won, geez!" Naruto bang his hands on the railing "Man that really ticks me off!" Naruto started to climb over the railing and into the arena "of all the lazy, I'm gunna give him a piece of my mind!"

"yeah you have fun with that" Zaku said with little to no enthusiasm as he walk out the small room were the competitors are kept and up the stairs to were kin is.

"what are you doing here?" Kin asked Zaku.

"Sasuke has not arrived yet" Zaku answered.

"ah you might want to retract that statement." Kin points to the arena were Sasuke and Kakashi have just arrived.

"huh, never mind then" Zaku said just as Guy and Rock Lee arrive.

"oh, and look who also showed up" Kin said with a sinister smile on her face " if it isn't the former ty jutsu user, how's the left half of your body?"

"Kin!" Zaku said angrily "this boy has already lost so much, why must you tease him?"

"your one to talk!" kin replied angrily "I saw you picking a fight with Kankuro down in the pit."

"that's different" Zaku

"How?!" Kin

"Kankuro is an ass" Zaku said with a half joking smile on his face.

"hahaha" Kin laughed "that is true" then to Lee "sorry about teasing you, I was only half serous"

"that is alright" Rock answered be for walking forward to get a closer look at the match.

"well we should probably get down to the pit and wait for the signal" Kin said waiting for Zaku's answer before making a move.

"yeah, it could come at any time" Zaku. Both Zaku and Kin walk down to the pit passing Naruto and Shikamaru who were both on their way up.

Kin and Zaku are both in the pit when the signal goes out and as soon as Sasuke runs after Gaara they fallow.

**Author's note**

** Yeah I just skimmed over this chapter, but it really doesn't matter, the next one is wear the story really gets good, but this one was just kind of in the way.**

** If you keep reading you get to find out how Zaku's arms got fixed and you get to see a new technique.**


End file.
